Swiss Hockey: Dominik, Ralph – first of all, congratulations on your new venture: Fastplay. Why did you decide to take over Fastplay? Do you really play that fast?

Ralph: In October, we heard that Paul Schneider was looking for a successor to Fastplay. We are both field hockey fans, have strong family ties to the sport and are generally a bit “sports crazy”. As it is important to us that a local sports equipment provider like Fastplay continues to exist for Swiss country hockey, we got talking to Paul. As we soon realized that we shared the same “Fastplay philosophy”, we quickly came to an agreement.

Swiss Hockey: And can you tell us your plans for Fastplay? What does the future of fastplay look like?

Dominik: First of all, we want to continue Paul’s mission with Fastplay. It is the only store in Switzerland that is specifically geared towards land field hockey, where you can test and “touch” all the products and which maintains a close connection with the clubs in Switzerland. We want to build on this. In future, it is very important to us to work more closely with the clubs in western Switzerland and HAC Lugano. We will therefore start by revising the online store bit by bit and introducing multilingualism, for example. As we have slightly more time resources than Paul, our aim is to be present even more frequently at major tournaments and club events throughout Switzerland with a selection of the Fastplay range.

Swiss Hockey: Under Paul’s direction, there were already rumors that Fastplay would offer more than just field hockey equipment. Will you now be expanding the range to include other sports such as padel, cricket, basketball, …? If yes, why? If not, why not?

Ralph: Fastplay’s focus is clearly on field hockey. However, as we want to grow as a company, we are basically open to other sports. However, this can only be done step by step, so we will initially only be adding padel products to the range on a trial basis. There are already many – sometimes very large – retailers for all other sports. But unlike Decathlon, for example, where you can only order field hockey sticks online and they are then sent from abroad, with us all products can be “touched” and bought directly in the store – or at our mobile sales stand.

Swiss Hockey: In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges for Fastplay’s strong growth?

Dominik: We are taking things step by step and want to build on Paul’s great work. The biggest challenge is certainly that the Swiss field hockey market is limited. It is therefore important that we make our offering available to all field hockey players and clubs throughout Switzerland as comprehensively as possible. We also have to look carefully at how we use our human resources sensibly, as we want to achieve a good basic presence at the clubs and tournaments.

Swiss Hockey: And where do you see the opportunities for Fastplay? Will it soon have its own collection à la OSAKA?

Ralph: We are optimistic and look forward to working with and for Fastplay. The potential of Fastplay in Switzerland has certainly not yet been exhausted. As we only deal in high-quality materials, a “Fastplay collection” is actually something we are currently looking into. There aren’t yet many cool field hockey textiles that you can wear on and off the pitch. However, due to our manageable size, we have to remain realistic and think carefully about what is possible in this respect.

Swiss Hockey: Ralph, Dominik, thank you both for the interesting interview. We wish you both much joy and success with Fastplay. Here’s to the next 20 years!